Published: September 07, 2008 12:19 am            

WOLCOTT: Car Talk: How long have Click & Clack been brothers?

LOCKPORT — Dear Click and Clack: “Car Talk” is my favorite show. The one-hour program is what I wake up for on

Saturday mornings before checking in with the Lockport Police for serious blotter items.

I listen at 10 a.m., but understand the show is also broadcast at 6 a.m. on WBF0, 88.7. That’s too early for me to call, but by 10 a.m. all the questions are answered.

These are some questions I’m sure you can handle, but I can never get through on the telephone and get lost on line — as do many sexagenarians.

1. My mother-in-law had a problem with the dome light on her Oldsmobile. It was not under control and continued to drain the battery. We kept jumping it. Mom trusted one of those national tire stores with a nice waiting room, but paid a bunch of money. They didn’t solve the problem, but were very nice about it.

We snuck the car over to my mechanic, Lenny, whose garage is in an alley in our not-so-fair city. He went all over town to junk yards, found the part and fixed it.

The dome light on my bride’s little 1999 Chrysler stayed on at will, got hot and drained the battery. I pushed the little Cirrus out the driveway several times before taking the car to Lenny. He ripped off the cover and disconnected a wire. The car starts, but it’s dark when my bride opens the door at night.

My question for the Magliozzi brothers is this:

1. My mother-in-law and wife are Italian, could this be genetic?

2. When traveling due west, how fast do you have to travel to stay ahead of the sunset? Is there are difference if I’m driving at sea level or flying at 30,000 feet? Would latitude make a difference?

3. I got over 200,000 miles on my 1989 Crown Victoria and my 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis. Can I expect my 2004 Impala to go that far and take me to my Septuagenarian years? Sexagenarian is not what I hoped it would be.

4. Did you get the names Click and Clack from Frick and Frack the famous Swiss skaters from the Ice Follies?

5. The callers who get through to you seem to have the talent to make car sound effects. You have the gift to recognize the sounds and prescribe a cure? Is it advisable to practice making car noises in order to get on your show?

6. Do you charge $60 an hour at the Click and Clack Garage, or is it doubled because there are two of you? Of course, in your fair city of Cambridge, Mass., prices per hour are probably pretty inflated.

7. I haven’t seen “As the Wrench Turns,” but I did see the real Tom and Ray Magliozzi on television and was disillusioned. In theater of my mind, I imagined something else, like the Wizards of Oz.

It was the same with Arthur Godfrey 60 years ago. On radio, I was sure he had a mustache and dark hair just like Click or Clack.

Sincerely,

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott

439-9222, ext. 6246.

        

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